The poker world was treated to a final trio of contestants more than worthy of the World Series of Poker $50K Poker Players Championship with Benny Glaser, Josh Arieh, and the one and only Phil Ivey.
However, it was Ivey to be the first to be kicked off the podium in third place, leaving Glaser and Arieh to duel for the most prestigious prize in mixed game poker.
Ivey began the day in a cluster of four players sitting near the 5M chip mark with Glaser leading at 8.6M. Kristopher Tong was the first to fall, leaving the final five for the WSOP YouTube stream.
Paul Volpe and Maxx Coleman were the next to fall, leaving the 11-time bracelet winner two combatants away from adding to his extensive collection.
Ivey entered three-handed play in third place with 6.7M chips, while Arieh had 11M, and Glaser led with 14M.
Unfortunately for Ivey, he couldn’t get any traction against his opponents and was left with just under five big bets heading into a round of Limit 2-7 Triple Draw.
The end of Ivey's PPC
In his penultimate hand against Arieh, Ivey looked down at 
after he raised and drew one. It was a weaker eight, but still ahead.
Arieh, who had 
after the draw, tossed away the extra eight and picked up to pull ahead of Ivey with the worst (best) hand. He fired a big bet, and a pat Ivey called to see the bad news.
That hand left Ivey with less than one bet, which he got in drawing four against Arieh’s two-card draw.
At the final draw, Arieh stood pat with a 
, while Ivey still needed a card, drawing to .
Ivey though rolled over a four, pairing him and ending his day.
The third-place finish, matching his best-ever PPC result from 2006, was still good for $600,698, but one of the two most coveted prizes at the World Series of Poker will be going to either Glaser or Arieh.
Who will claim the prize?
As heads-up play began, Arieh held a lead of 19,350,000 to 13,025,000 over Glaser with limits of 250K / 500K.
You can watch the conclusion of the PPC live now on the WSOP YouTube channel, and we’ll have a full story and interview with the winner once play wraps up in time with the stream.
